Nachrichten Kaserne latest US facility in Heidelberg to close

The U.S. flag flies in front of the clock tower for the last time on Nachrichten Kaserne in Heidelberg, Germany, home of the U.S. Army hospital. Europe Regional Medical Command held a final retreat ceremony here Monday, lowering the U.S. flag at the base one last time before the post is decommissioned and returned to the German government.

HEIDELBERG, Germany — A detail of medical soldiers marched to the flagpole Monday for the last retreat ceremony at Nachrichten Kaserne, the latest installation to close in the U.S. military community at Heidelberg.

The post was the longtime home of a U.S. Army hospital, which was visited by thousands of military members and their families over the years. The hospital was best known as the place where Gen. George S. Patton, the famed World War II general, died after a car crash in nearby Mannheim.

Nachrichten, along with other Army posts in the city, is being decommissioned and returned to the German government as part of the Army’s realignment in Europe.